Google has just unveiled its Chrome OS operating system during a press event at the company's headquarters, and it's pretty much exactly what we expected it to be: a streamlined Linux kernel booting straight into the Chrome web browser. The code is available starting today.

It's intended for secondary/tertiary "email/facebook" devices for living room, something you turn on in a whim and quickly catch up with whatever is happening.

The Deities help us. Ultra quick Facebook appliances. So you can stop having a real social life even quicker(TM).

I haven't seen a few people for over 6 months in the flesh, because they seem to believe that publishing every uninteresting little detail about their everyday lives and commenting on these posts from other people just like it, is adequate replacement for real life contact.

I wonder how "I'm sitting in the garden. Reading a book" [Random friend X likes it] --> "Enjoy your book." --> "Nice having some leisure time. Wish I was there." --> "Is the book any good?" --> "Barnes and Noble are having a sale." is enough for some people.

There is no longer any exchange of ideas, nor talk about feelings or the deeper stuff of life. I guess I'm a dinosaur and I feel threatened by the birth of Homo Superficialis.

The only upside to this is that Google will probably get some serious revenue through shoehorning all those online time wastes into their adsense channel.